Meeting & Agendas

Committee members in attendance: Russell Toynes, Chair Art Director, Dell Global Brand Creative Team ; Anne Charlotte Patterson, Designer, Southern Combustion; Chris Visit, Principal, Frank+Victor; Felipe Villela, Art Director, Y&R Austin; Mehran Poursmaeili, Sr Designer, UT System; Anita Lam, Designer, Mutual Mobile ACC Faculty/staff in attendance: Gail Bayeta, VisCom Dept. Chair and graphic design section leader; Priscilla Wicker, VisCom Ass't Dept. Chair and graphic arts technology section leader; Marc Bonasso, VisCom Web/Interactive coleader; Andrew Salda�a, VisCom Foundation section leader Oen Hammonds, VisCom graphic design adjunct, Visual designer at IBM Alida McCullough, VisCom administrative assistant

Priscilla explained had an Adobe digital publishing training event, and talked to someone from a community college in Ft Worth, where all of the digital publishing II projects where being output to XML,can be uploaded to iTunes and then the instructor grades them. Committee members agreed that it would be useful for students to have this experience with at least one project.

Gail told committee members that the state has passed a bill, SB 497, a rule that caps AA degrees at 60 hours effective fall 2015. We are unsure of how this will be enforced, and we may have to amend our degree plans. As soon as we get details, we'll inform everyone of how changes may need to be made.

Priscilla said that there have been a few requests for an advanced Illustrator class, concentrating on infographics. Committee members thought this class would not be necessary. They agreed that infographics are very important, and should always be well done. This could be accomplished with a project in an advanced class such as Typographic Design.

Priscilla Wicker asked about the difficulties of internships for international students, and whether or not H1b visas are required. Committee members said that H1b visas are not required for current students doing internships, and if they were required, companies would not use international students as interns, due to the cost and extra work required of the company.

Action: All matters having been discussed motion was made to adjourn the meeting. The motion was seconded, and the meeting was adjourned at 8:21 pm.

Since the previous vice chair, Clark Bystrom, was not able to serve, the chair asked for nominations for a new vice chair. Anne Charlotte Patterson was nominated, the motion was seconded, and she was elected unanimously.

Minutes from the Jan 10, 2013 meeting were distributed and reviewed. All of the changes discussed and approved by the committee were enacted, with the exception of the creation of a screen printing class, which was taken to the Curriculum and Programs committee but returned for further justification and coordination between VisCom and other departments. Action: The advisory committee chair moved to accept the minutes. The motion was seconded and passed unanimously.

Gail explained that Basic Graphic Design is no longer required on all VisCom degrees, only on the Graphic Design, Graphic Arts Technology, Motion Graphics and Web/Interactive degree plans. ''Design Basics'' looks at design from an art point of view, focusing on drawing and painting, whereas ''Graphic Design: The New Basics'' is geared toward graphic designers and better suits our needs. The proposed book includes information on layers, transparency, hierarchy, and grids, which Design Basics does not cover. Andrew said that the proposed book includes projects that show practical applications of the design principles and would give students a good foundation in graphic design. Action: A motion was made to change the textbook for Basic Graphic Design to ''Graphic Design: The New Basics''. The motion was seconded, and it was approved unanimously.

''Thinking with Type'' is the current required text in Typography, which is the first type class on the graphic design degree. Gail developed the curriculum for Typography using ''Thinking with Type'', which is a great book, but a little too advanced for students who have never thought about type before. ''Designing with Type'' provides clear rules, explanations and examples. It's a text that covers basics really well, without taking on too much. The book has been updated, and there is also a good supporting web site. Gail also said that she welcomes suggestions for a textbook for Typographic Design (the advanced type class.) Action: A motion was made to change the textbook for Typography to ""Designing with Type"". The motion was seconded, and it was approved unanimously.

Gail directed committee members to two handouts provided–the Illustration enhanced skills certificate degree plan, and a recent history of enrollment and completion rates in the required classes, as well as certificates awarded. She pointed out that only six students have completed the certificate since 2011. Though there has been low certification completion, students are consistently interested in Computer Illustration I & II, as well as Illustration Techniques I. The capstone class, Illustration Techniques II, has been offered but killed due to insufficient enrollment during the past three Spring semesters. Course substitutions have been made to allow some students to complete the certificate. Priscilla Wicker asked if it would be possible to teach Illustration Techniques I & Illustration Techniques II as a combined section. Andrew Saldana said there is not really a big advantage to spending a second semester on the traditional techniques since the demand for Ill Tech II is so low. Andrew feels that it is sufficient to take the skills from Illustration Techniques I into Computer Illustration I & II. Last spring Andrew conducted an informal survey, contacting illustrators from around the country, to see if they thought there was value in offering this certificate. The survey showed that traditional Illustration jobs have dwindled down to almost nothing. Traditional illustration skills are still important, but most work is currently being done on the computer. Students achieve most success in integrating illustration into their graphic design portfolios when they learn the basic traditional illustration skills, but are then able to apply them to execute the final product on the computer. Committee members asked why the demand for Illustration Techniques II is low. Andrew said that students prefer to work on the computer. The Illustration Techniques I class does not currently include projects executed on computer. Few students are interested in spending more time on traditional skills, so this seems like a practical way to go. Gail also mentioned that the classes on the enhanced certificate have been added as restricted electives for the graphic design degree, and that has helped enrollment overall. She also noted that an additional advantage to ending the certificate with Computer Illustration II is that it will result in more students to completing the award, rather than disappointed when we cancel classes due to low enrollment. Action: A motion was made to remove Illustration Techniques II from the Illustration Enhanced Skills Certificate. The motion was seconded it was approved unanimously.

Oen Hammonds discussed how feedback in the past 3-4 years from industry professionals has been that student projects are not dense enough, i.e. just a logo but not various applications of that logo; too many of the same types of projects, i.e. multiple book covers; and lack of depth-they would prefer to see, for example, not just a book cover but also spreads. Committee members discussed various solutions such as: ∙ Maintaining consistency in class projects including more robust, comprehensive campaigns with fewer small projects. ∙ Conducting learning assessments and reviewing those at the end of the semester with the faculty. ∙ Reviewing grade rubrics to maintain consistency and quality. ∙ Creating student portfolios in electronic formats such as pdf that gets updated every semester with coursework throughout the degree. ∙ Forecasting to students early in the program what their ultimate learning achievement is at the end.

Marc Bonasso explained that, based on feedback from industry professionals, the Web & Interactive area will be moving toward focusing more on user experience design. Therefore, the Visual Design for New Media class will become a class for the Graphic Design degree, addressing issues of designing for screen as well as for print. Current projects include picking an existing web site, designing different elements (iconography, banner ads) for it, and reverse engineering the site, web page layout with wire framing, creating a mood board, and restyling the site. Students also create a Keynote presentation to explain what they did and why, critique each other's work, and at the end, showcase their project. The textbook, ''White space is Not Your Enemy'' reinforces elements of design.There is currently no prerequisite for this class. Students should know how to use Photoshop. This class replaces Interface Design on the Graphic Design degree plan, and it should help students think beyond design on paper.

Gail asked for the committee's input as to projects for this class. Current projects include handwritten type, designing a typeface, sound and CD, and title sequencing. Gail has talked to Steven Mullins about adding a type in motion project, but welcomes other suggestions. Committee members suggested designing currency, experimental calendars, long form documents, annual reports, corporate responsibility documents, a publication design project including attention to multiple levels of hierarchy, translating a print document to the web, magazine design & typography, formatting beyond 2 or 3 levels, translating a print version to online.